1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ice supply device and a refrigerator having the same, and more particularly, to an ice supply device and refrigerator having an ice storage container and an ice breaking unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
A refrigerator disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,130 includes an ice making device mounted at an inner upper portion of a freezing compartment, and an ice supply device, which stores ice made by the ice making device and supplies ice to an ice receiving space provided at a front surface of a door of the freezing compartment.
The ice supply device is mounted at an inner surface of the door of the freezing compartment. The ice supply device includes an ice storage container to store ice, an auger rotatably mounted in the ice storage container to feed the ice, an ice breaking device to break the ice to be dispensed, and a driving device. The ice breaking device is mounted at an inner lower portion of the ice storage container, and the auger is connected to an upper portion of the ice breaking device, so as to be driven together with the ice breaking device by the operation of the driving device.
The driving device includes a driving motor embedded in the door of the freezing compartment, and a driving shaft extending upward from the driving motor and connected to the ice breaking device. The ice storage container is removably coupled to the inner surface of the door of the freezing compartment so as to be separated as needed. When the ice storage container is separated, the ice breaking device provided in the ice storage container is separated together with the ice storage container. If the ice storage container is installed to the door of the freezing compartment, the ice breaking device is connected with the driving shaft. Thereby, a rotational force of the driving motor can be transmitted to the ice breaking device.
However, because the above-described ice supply device is configured such that the ice storage container and the ice breaking device are integrally formed, when a user intends to separate the ice storage container to clean the same or intends to carry the ice storage container in the state of being filled with ice, there is inconvenience in handling the ice storage container due to heavy weight.